


Trick and Treat

by DKGwrites



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: F/F, Halloween, Halloween Costumes, SuperCorp
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-30
Updated: 2018-11-28
Packaged: 2019-01-26 11:26:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 15,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12556400
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DKGwrites/pseuds/DKGwrites
Summary: Wanting to ask Lena to the Halloween party is proving a problem for Kara who worries she’s kept her secret identity a secret for too long.  Alex promises her sister that Lena’s and Kara’s friendship is stronger than the secret between them, but no one can prepare Kara for Lena’s reaction.





	1. Getting Into the Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Birthday to my friend, Jennifer, and Happy Halloween to everyone else.

Kara walked down the aisle at the Halloween store, looking through the assortment of costumes.  She tugged at her blue sweater, hands fidgety with seeming anxiety as she needlessly fixed her glasses for the third time in as many minutes.  The rows were filled with bright colors and stretchy material, capes, symbols of justice.  Actually, it was nothing out of the ordinary in her life.  A younger Kara Danvers had adored Halloween when she’d first been introduced to it by her new sister Alex, though mainly for the candy.  Now though, she just couldn’t seem to get into the spirit…pun intended.

“Hey, how about this one?” Alex asked, stepping up next to Kara, a costume in hand.

Kara turned, her gaze briefly flicking over what Alex held before her eyes leveled to stare at her sister with an unamused look.  “Hysterical.”  Kara took the Supergirl costume from Alex and hung it up on a nearby rack.  Raising and lowering her arms until they slapped against her legs, Kara sighed loudly.  “I don’t know, Alex.  Nothing is calling to me.  I just don’t know what to get.”

“Just get anything.”

“No, I want to get something good, something great.  It has to be the right thing, you know?”

Alex smiled, hands on her hips as she rocked back and forth slightly.  Her brown leather jacket hung casually on her shoulders, green shirt peeking it from underneath.

“What?”

Arms crossing, Alex tilted her head to the side.  “This isn’t about the costume.”

“Uh, yeah, it is.”

“Oh, really.  So, this isn’t about the person you’re going to invite to the party?”

Puffing up her cheeks while she awkwardly straightened her glasses…again, Kara slowly blew out her breath.  “What?  Me?  No.  Why would it be?  Lena and I are friends.  We do stuff together all the time.  She’s invited me to her parties before, so I’m inviting her to one of mine.  We’re just the friendliest friends to ever do a friend thing.”  Kara stared at her sister for several seconds and then added, “As friends.”

“Oh, my God.” Alex pinched the bridge of her nose before dropping her hand and saying, “Kara, just ask her out already.”

“I…I can’t.”  Kara shook her head.

“Yes, you can.”

“No, I’ve tried.  I open my mouth, and then I say something completely different like about work, or the weather, or dogs, or a pen.”

“A pen?”

Nodding vigorously, Kara replied, “I got so nervous the other day, I spent like two minutes complimenting her pen.  But hey, bonus, she sent me a box of pens.  Heh, heh.”

Head down, Alex mumbled incoherently for several seconds.  Finally, she lifted her head and looked at her sister again.  “Look, just text her.  Send her a text and ask her to go to the party.  Then you don’t have to become all…you over her holding a spoon or something.  How does that sound?”

“Good except I still have to come out to her.  It’s why I keep getting so flustered.  When I realize I have to come out to her, I just get…” Grabbing the top of her sweater, Kara pulled on it several times as if to release some heat.

“Kara, if you ask her out, I’m pretty sure that counts as coming out.”

“Not that coming out.  I’m talking about…”  Looking around to make sure they weren’t being overheard, Kara grabbed the Supergirl costume she’d hung up on a nearby rack and shook it at her sister before hanging it back again.  “I have to tell her the truth.”

“Oh, okay.  So, you want to tell her, right?”

“Yes, yes, I mean…yes.”

“Well, it’s been cleared.  J’onn has authorized it.  Kara, if you want to tell her, just tell her.  She’s the only one of your friends that doesn’t know.”

“That’s the problem,” Kara agreed.  “She’s the only one of my friends who doesn’t know.  I trust her, but how do I make her understand this wasn’t a trust issue?  How do I get her to see this wasn’t a Super/Luthor issue?  I feel like maybe I missed the boat on this, that I should have told her a few months ago, and now I don’t know how to fix it.”

“And you think waiting longer will help?”

“Argh!”  Kara bopped herself in the forehead with her fist several times.  “I can’t think about this right now.  Just help me pick out a costume, okay?  I want it to look cool, but not look too slutty.”

“Okay, fine.  So we’re going to avoid the banana costume of 2012.”

“Which was appealing.”

Alex groaned.  “That still isn’t funny, and we’ll steer clear of the milk-maid costume fiasco of 2015.”

“Steer clear?”

“Hey, you started with the puns.”

“True.”

Picking up a costume, Alex held it up for Kara to inspect.  “What about this one?”

“Wonder Woman?”  Kara considered it.  “It’s a classic and not so revealing I wouldn’t wear it in public.  I know I look good in the boots, so that’s a plus.”

“How do you know you…?  You wore her boots?”

Smiling, her head bopping back and forth, Kara admitted, “I loaned her my cape.  It was just a girl thing, you know, borrowing each other’s clothes.  You know how that is.”

“Uh…yeah but uh...You wore her boots?” 

Kara just nodded.

“Okay, moving on.  We’ll put this on the maybe list.”  Putting that costume down and picking up another, Alex asked, “What about this one?”

“Oh, Green Lantern.  I haven’t actually met her yet, but Lois finally got an interview with her.  I’m sure you heard.”

“From Lucy, yes.  It was really just bitching and complaining about Lois’s ego, that Lucy didn’t think it could get any bigger, but apparently she was wrong.  You haven’t met her, Green Lantern, not Lois, obviously.”

Shaking her head, Kara replied, “No she’s only been seen in National City twice now, and each time it was major.  I didn’t have a moment to shake hands with anyone.  Green Lantern’s help was timely, but she was gone before I had a moment to thank her.  I think Metropolis is her base.”

“So Clark’s met her?”  Alex asked quietly as she looked around.

“Sort of?  He’s spoken to her, but she hasn’t spoken back.  Green Lantern’s aren’t picked for being friendly, just brave.  You’ll never know what you’ll get when you get one.”

“Okay, well another maybe then?”

Kara thought about it then nodded.

Switching for another costume, Alex held one up.  “How about this one?”

“Batgirl.”  Kara smiled.  “Now she’s a friend.  I’ve met her a bunch.  We’ve done lunch.”

“Well, anyone who feeds you is your friend.”

“Truth.”

“Costume isn’t too revealing,” Alex commented.

“Not even remotely.  I think Robin probably has the most revealing costume in that group.  Oooh!  I bet I could borrow a real utility belt with a bat-a-rang and stuff if…okay, that’s a definite maybe.  Do we have a definite maybe pile?”

“Uh…We do now.  Alex put it next to the other two but pushed them apart creating a clear line of delimitation.  “There, the maybes and the definite maybe.  More?”

“Yes, please.”

Sighing, Alex said, “Sure thing.  If we get something you like, you’re going to ask Lena out?”

“Yes.  Maybe.  Definite maybe.”

Alex grumbled.  “You’re a definite maybe.  Okay, how about…?”  She moved the costume around, looking at its front, back, and front again.  It was purple and silver with long purple boots.  “Is this missing a piece like a skirt?”

“No, that’s Starfire’s costume.  She has a lot of leg and they’re just kind of…there.”

“Oh, well, how nice for her.  Do you want to…?” Alex held out the costume toward Kara.

“No, thank you.  Next please.”

“You know you have the legs for this, right?”

With a nervous smile, Kara replied, “But not the intestinal fortitude.”

“Ah, no guts.  You wear less than this to the beach.”

“Not in front of Lena.”

Hanging up the costume, Alex looked through the rack for something else.  “She really has you all wound up in knots.”

One arm wrapped around her center and the other rubbing the back of her neck, Kara nodded.  “I really like her, Alex.  I think she likes me.  I think she’s flirting with me, but then she just sort of…”

“She sort of what?” Alex asked, looking up from the rack.

“Well, she’s flirty with the smiling and these little comments and then she’s all, ‘you’re my friend, we’re like family, ’ and she’ll suddenly go into work mode or something when the eye contact gets intense.  I swear she starts it most of the time, and then she shuts it down.  I don’t know.  Maybe I’m making it up.”

“Maybe she thinks you’re not interested.”

“Sheesh.  As if.  You’ve seen her.”

Not commenting, Alex held up another costume.  “Well, this one reveals nothing.  Are these little skulls?”

“That’s Raven.  She’s on the Teen Titans with Starfire.  They’re friends.”

“They don’t exactly wear team colors, do they?”

“Well, Raven is a bit…” Fiddling with her glasses again, Kara finally settled on, “…complicated.  Honestly, she could give Lena lessons in family issues.”

“Really!?”

“Really.  You know, if we could figure out a way to send Lillian after Trigon, we could only win.”

“Like a cage match, two go in; one comes out?”

Kara nodded.

Nodding back, Alex asked, “So, are you feeling this or…?”

“Not.  I don’t want to go to the Starfire extreme, but I do want to show off something, at least my face in good lighting.  I mean, Lena will—”

“If you get the guts to ask her.”

“Mean.”

“And yet true,” Alex replied sliding the Raven costume back and grabbing another one.  “I this another Batgirl costume?”

“Batwoman.”

“I can’t keep up.  I’ll put her with Batgirl.”  Grabbing another costume, Alex grinned.

“No.”

“Oh, come on, have fun.”

“Alex, she’s a villain.”

“She likes high places.  You like high places.”

“I said no.”

“She knows Batman.  You know Batman.”

“Still no.”

“She likes animals.  You like animals,” Alex pointed out.

“I’m a dog person.  She is most definitely not a dog person.  Put it back.”

“Fine.  Someone clearly doesn’t know how to go outside her comfort zone.  That’s why you can’t get a date with Lena.” Hanging it back up with gusto, Alex grabbed a new costume.  “How about this?”

“I can’t get a date with Lena because I’m afraid to lose her friendship.  I’m afraid if she finds out who I really am—”

“Kara, if finding out who you really are loses her friendship, then she wasn’t your friend.  Sure, she might be upset.  She might even be pissed you’ve been keeping it from her for this long.  Real friends get through that.  Are you and Lena real friends?”

Letting that settle in, Kara nodded.  “Yes. Yes, we are.”

“Then tell her.  Now, what about this costume.”

“I’ve made a decision,” Kara announced.

“About the costume?”

“Yes, and about Lena.  I’m going to tell her.  I’m going to ask her out, and I’m going to tell her who I am.  I’m just going to do it.”

“Hey, good for you.”  Alex hugged her sister.  “So, about the costume…”

“I know what I’m doing.”

“Great, do we need a wig?”

Slowly, Kara’s smile grew.


	2. Girl of Steel and Nerves

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara asks Lena an important question and waits for an answer.

It was Halloween Eve, and Kara had been outside Lena’s office for nearly twenty minutes.  She practically marched back and forth, pulling on the sleeves of her maroon cardigan.  Several times she’d smoothed down her sweater and white shirt, made her way to the CEO’s door, then done a 180 and headed back the way she had started.  The courage Kara had gathered always seemed to slip away as soon as she reached the threshold of the office.  If this were some alien menace bent on world domination, the Kryptonian could face that with practiced ease.  Asking a girl out was hard.

Kara knew Lena was in and alone.  She could see the other woman typing away as she occasionally used x-ray vision to check in on the CEO.  Kara had purposefully come during Jess’ lunch hour so that no one would be there in case Lena rejected her.  It also meant no one was there to push her to go into the office.  So, now Kara was stuck just a few feet from doing the thing she both desperately wanted to do and was terrified of doing.  Faster than a speeding bullet: check.  More powerful than a locomotive: check.  Nervous gay mess: check.

When she received a text, Kara pulled out her phone and read it immediately.  Any excuse to stall was a good one right now, but this didn’t quite manage that.

Alex: “Well, how did it go?  What did she say?”

Kara grimaced then texted her sister back.

Kara: “I haven’t asked her yet.  I’m outside her office now.”

Alex: “Okay, well let me know what she says.  You’ll be great.  She likes you.  I know it.  Everyone knows it.”

“Everyone?”

Kara: “Who’s everyone?  Who did you tell?”

Alex: “No one.  Everyone just knows Lena likes you.  It’s obvious.  You two are obvious.”

Staring at her phone, Kara sighed.

“Miss Danvers?”

Kara looked up at the sound of her name.  She’d been so lost in her thoughts; she didn’t even hear Jess walk in.  Wearing a dark business suit and a curious expression, Lena’s Executive Assistant looked quizzically at the blonde.

“Is there something I can help you with?”

“Oh, um…” Wiggling her phone around a bit, Kara said, “I got a text.  I mean, I was about to go see Lena, but then I got a text.  Alex, that’s my sister, she texted me.  She does that.  So I texted her back, and we were texting.  You know, like you do.”

“Like you do,” Jess said very slowly as she walked around to her desk and took her seat.  One hand over the intercom button she asked, “Should I let Miss Luthor know you’re on your way in?”

“Ah yes.  No.  I mean, you don’t need to.  I can just go in.  I’m her friend, and she said I can just go in.  Friends do that, so I’m just going to go in.  This is me going in.”

Jess watched Kara drop her phone into her purse and awkwardly make her way to Lena’s door.  Jess’ lips pursed as Kara took a deep breath, pulled open the door, and headed in.  When the other woman had disappeared inside the CEO’s office, Jess shook her head.  “God, I hope that text was from someone giving her dating advice.  She and Miss Luthor are never going to figure this out on their own, and my boss certainly isn’t listening to me.  Brave indeed.”

“Hi,” Kara said, her back a bit stiff as she stood nervously by the door.

“Kara.”  Lena smiled warmly but kept looking at her computer screen, typing away.  “What a welcome surprise.  How can I help you?”

“You look busy.  Are you busy?” Tapping herself in the forehead with the palm of her hand, Kara said, “Of course, you’re busy.  You’re trying to run a multi-billion dollar business here.  I should have called.  I’ll just leave.”

“Don’t be silly.”  Lena looked up briefly, smiling before returning to her typing.  “Just give me a moment to finish this email, and then I’m all yours.”

“All mine?”

“Well, if you want me.”  Lena looked up briefly again, smile growing, changing, then returned to her work

“Oh, Rao,” Kara mumbled.

After about a minute, Lena sent her email and then rose from her desk.  Her dress was dark blue, stopping a few inches above the knees, and paired with heels that did every favor for her legs.  Her hair hung loosely today, but of course, it was still styled.  It was a softer look for the CEO, perhaps meaning she had no meetings or meetings with less influential people.  As Lena circled the desk, she stopped, choosing to lean back against it, her ankles crossed as she smiled at her friend.  “Now then, what can I do for you?  Do you need a quote or—”

“No, no.  This isn’t business.  It’s pleasure.”

“Pleasure?  Well, then tell me more, Miss Danvers.”

“Ah.” Kara swallowed hard under Lena’s stare and fiddled with her glasses.  “Well, tomorrow is Halloween as I expect you know.  You know that, right?”

“The 31st, yes.  I’m familiar.  Go on.”

Kara nodded and smiled slightly.  “So, some friends and I are having a party at my place.  It’s not a big deal, just friends, some food, well, lots of food.  I like food.  We’ll play games, drink, hang out, you know, friend stuff.”

When Kara paused and seemed to want something, Lena smiled and nodded encouragingly.

“So, I was thinking, wondering, actually, hoping.  Yes, I was hoping, you’d want to go.”

Head tilted to the side, Lena said, “To the party.”

“Yes, I’m asking if you want to go to the party at my place with my friends, my other friends, tomorrow night, with me.  That’s what I’m asking you.”

“Sounds fun.”

“It will be!” Kara replied with just a bit too much enthusiasm.  She took several steps toward Lena as she spoke.  “James will be there, who I don’t think you know, but you know Winn.  He likes you, and he’s bringing his girlfriend.  Oh, and you know Alex.  Alex is my sister, and you’ve met twice.”

“She saved my life.”

“You saved hers.”

“Semantics.”

“Her girlfriend Maggie will be there.”

“Maggie.”  Arms crossing Lena asked, “Maggie the cop?”

“Um…yes?”

“Maggie the cop who arrested me?”

“Oh…yes, that’s the one.”

Lena nodded.  “Is Maggie bringing her handcuffs?”

“Oh, awkward.  Look, Lena—”

Lena waved casually, her body language relaxing. “Don’t worry about it, Kara.  Luthors can’t hold grudges over every person who accuses us of wrongdoing, or we’d never make any friends.  Anyway, I’ve been handcuffed before.”

“You’ve been arrested before?”

“No.”

As understanding slowly grew over Kara’s face so did Lena’s smile.  It tugged at the corners of her mouth, growing slow and sexy while the woman leaned slightly forward.  Then something in Lena changed, and she stiffened a bit, withdrawing again.  Her face changed until her smile became friendly and she was leaning away, her head pitched to the side as if Kara was almost an afterthought.

“Anyway,” Kara said fiddling with her glasses and changing the subject.  “J’onn, Alex’s boss and his girlfriend M’gann plan to drop in.  You’ll get to meet a lot of the people who are really important to me, who really know me.  They’ll be there with their, you know, significant others.”

“Well, then how can I refuse?  Kara, I’d be honored to go to your party.”

Kara stood up a little bit straighter.  “You would?”

“Of course, I would.  I’d love to meet the rest of your friends.  What time?”

“Well, we’re starting at seven, but I know how your work can be and—”

Lena waved a hand, stalling anything further Kara had to say.  “Let me double check with Jess, but I think I can manage seven o’clock.  Should I bring anything?”

“No.  I mean, if you want, but you don’t have to.  We’ll have food. I like food.”

“As you’ve mentioned.”  Lena nodded.  “Anything else?”

“Oh, um, it’s a costume party.  I guess I should have mentioned that and um…you’ll need a costume.”

“I see.”  Brows furrowed, Lena’s mouth tightened for a moment.  “Well, that’s why I have an assistant.  I’ll set Jess to that task, and I’ll see you at your place tomorrow night at seven.”

“No, I’ll pick you up.”

“Pick me up?”  Smiling again, Lena shook her head.  “Kara, darling, I know my way to your apartment.  I’ve been there before.  Anyway, do you even have a car?”

“Well, not but um…”  Once again fixing her glasses that didn’t need fixing, Kara swallowed hard.  “Lena, to be clear, I’m asking you to go to the party with me.”

Lena nodded.

“No, I’m asking you to go to the party **with** me.  I’m asking you out, like a date.”

“Like a…date?”

With an eye roll, Kara clarified, “Okay, not like a date, a date.  Lena, I’m asking you out on a date.  Will you go out with me to the party tomorrow night?”

Painstakingly slowly, Lena pushed away from the desk and stood upright.  The expression on her face changed.  The mirth, the easy friendliness, even any lingering flirtations fell away as her mouth slid open and her eyebrows rose.  Arms hanging at her sides, she stared at Kara.  Time passed into the realm of uncomfortable where Lena said nothing, did nothing, her expression unchanging.

Heart pounding to the point it seemed it might push its way through her chest, Kara finally found her voice.  “Lena, look if you don’t—”

One hand jerking quickly up was all it took for the CEO to silence the other woman.  Then Lena turned her back on her friend.  Arms wrapping around herself, Lena made her way over to the balcony and stood looking out.  Silence stretched between them once again.

Kara stood watching.  She could see Lena’s movements, the nervous habit the woman had of playing with her jewelry.  Kara watched as Lena’s hand went from her necklace to settle on a ring and fidget with it.  Unfortunately, the CEO’s thoughts were kept from Kara, and that’s what she needed at this moment.  Shaking slightly, the Girl of Steel and Nerves took herself to the couch and sat, awaiting the verdict.

Finally, Lena turned and walked a few feet to bridge the gap, stopping in the middle of the room and giving a single nod before saying, “All right.”

Kara was on her feet again at Lena’s first movement.  “All right?  What does all right…?”  All right?”  Kara shrugged.

“I mean, all right.  Let’s do this.”

“Is that a yes?”  Kara’s hands folded over each other again and again.

Lena’s laugh betrayed her nervousness.  “It’s a yes.  I’d love to go out with you.”

Exhaling loudly, Kara slumped slightly forward.  Her smile covered her face, lighting up her eyes.  Then, as memory of what else she had to do kicked in, the blonde tensed again.  “Lena, there’s just one more thing.  There’s something I—”

Lena raised her hand again.  “Actually, Kara, I’d like to say something if I may.”

Kara nodded.

“I think honesty is important, don’t you?”

“I…yes, yes I do.  Actually, that’s what I wanted to talk to you about, honesty and trust.”

Eyes closed, Lena nodded.  “Trust.  Trust can be a difficult thing when you’re a Luthor, can’t it?”

“Oh, Lena no.”  Rushing forward, Kara took Lena’s hands.  “It’s not about your family.  Nothing, none of this, is about your family.”

“Kara.”  Lena smiled gently.  “I’d be a fool to think I’m unaffected by my family’s name.  I’m a Luthor, and I do what I do despite that not because, but I am a Luthor.”

“It doesn’t matter to me.”

“It does to me.  I’m stronger for it.  I’ve lived through a lot because of who I am, and I’ve no intention of forgetting it.  Well, that isn’t what we need to discuss.  If we’re going to do this, then we should be honest with each other from the beginning.  Agreed?”

“Agreed,” Kara said, nodding.  “And this, this is the beginning?”

“Yes.”

“All right.  Lena, I need to—”

“Miss Luthor?”

Both women turned to the sound of Jess’ voice.  Lena’s assistant stood with the door open, an unusual breach of protocol without a knock.

“Jess, not now,” Lena said, shaking her head briskly even as she and Kara had stepped slightly away from each other.  “Miss Danvers and I are in the middle of something important.  Can you move back my—?”

“There’s a containment breach in Lab Seven.  They’re calling for you,” Jess said, her voice level but her body tense.  She glanced briefly at Kara before returning a steady stare to her employer.

“Did you say Lab Seven?” Lena asked, her voice pitching slightly higher.

“Yes, Miss Luthor.  They need you down there…now.”

“Yes, yes, of course.”  Lena rushed to her laptop, typing something quickly then headed out the door.  “Kara, I’ll call you.  This needs my immediate attention.”

“Oh, of…Yeah.  Sure but…You’ll call me?”  There was no response as Lena and Jess rushed to the elevator together, Lena putting her thumb on a pad and using an override, so the elevator took her where she needed to go immediately.  Kara bit at her lip, pulling her phone out of her purse and sending her sister a text.

Kara: “Hey, I did it.  I asked her and she said yes.  I’ve got a date.”

Almost immediately, little bubbles appeared as Alex was responding.

Alex: “That’s great!  I knew she’d say yes.  Winn was right.”

Kara: “Winn was right?”

Alex: “I thought she liked you, but Winn knows her better.  So, how’d she take the big reveal?”

Kara took a few moments to let that settle, the fact that she hadn’t been able to tell Lena yet.

Kara: “I didn’t tell her.  Jess rushed in right before I could and dragged her out for some big lab emergency.”

Alex: “You’re kidding.  That’s lousy timing.  Hey, she said yes though.  She likes you.  You’ve got a date.”

Kara: “I’ve got a date.”

Kara finished her text with a string of emoticons showing her happiness.

Alex: “Kara the delay might be for the better.  We’re getting alerts all over the city.  Cadmus is attacking in several alien neighborhoods.  We need you now.”

Kara: “On my way.”

Kara rushed outside and found a secluded place to streak off into the air.  Sure Cadmus was attacking, but Kara had a date.  She was about to smile her way through an entire fight.  She had a date with Lena Luthor.  Now all she needed to do was tell Lena she was Supergirl and not ruin their friendship and their potential first date in the process.  Easy-peasy-mac-n-cheesy.


	3. Everyday Costumes

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Honesty and reactions.

It was 6:45 on Halloween and the party was all set.  Decorations were up, and the food was laid out.  Kara paced back and forth in her apartment.  She’d been doing that for nearly twenty minutes.  Alex drank another cup of punch, screwing up her face as she considered the content, then shook her head.  She grabbed a bottle of some kind of alcohol and began to pour in liberal amounts.  When the bottle was empty, she placed it next to the first empty bottle of alcohol and took another glass of punch and drank it.

With a loud sigh, Kara slapped her arms along her sides as she marched across the living room.

“Kara, enough already.  You’re going to make grooves in the floor,” Alex pointed out.

“Right, sorry, sorry.  I’m just so…”

“Nervous?”

“Yes!  She was supposed to call me.  She hasn’t called me.”

“You could have called her,” Alex said.

“I know.  I texted her though, twice.  I texted to check in, and she didn’t text back.  Maybe she’s canceling.”

“Did she cancel?”

Kara shook her head.

“Then she’s not canceling.”

“You don’t know that, Alex.  When I asked her out, it wasn’t all heart eyes and smiles.  She was quiet for so long my stomach hurt, and I had to sit down.  She turned her back on me actually turned her back on me and had to think about it.  Then she said, ‘Let’s do this.’  It sounded more like an action film than a date.”

“If you’re lucky your date will turn into an action film.” Alex grinned.

“Not helping, Alex.  How much have you had to drink already?”

Alex waved dismissively.  “But she knows it’s a date?”

“Absolutely.  I said I was asking her on a date.  I used the word date.  That’s when she got all, you know, stiff.”  Grabbing her phone from the coffee table, Kara said, “Maybe I should text her again.”

“Kara, maybe you should stop second-guessing yourself.  You said she had some kind of lab emergency?”

“Yeah.  You think it’s just work?”

“I bet it’s just work.  I bet Lena got sidetracked with work and forgot you two needed to talk before your date.  She doesn’t need to talk, just you do, so it isn’t on her mind.”

Kara nodded.  “You’re right.  Lena forgot about calling me, but she remembered the date.  She remembered the date, right?”

Hugging her sister, Alex held her tight for several seconds before she said, “Of course, she remembers your date.  It’s a date with you.  There is no way Lena is going to forget that.”

There was a knock at the door, and the sisters both turned.

“It’s Maggie,” Kara announced.  “Oh, you two coordinated your costumes.  That’s cute.”

“Yeah, sort of.”  In her Catwoman costume, Alex crossed the room and opened the door to reveal Maggie standing on the other side.  “Hey.”

Standing in a Batwoman costume, a tote bag in one hand, Maggie replied, “Hey, babe.  You coming easy, or are you going to make this hard on yourself?”

With a smirk, Alex replied, “Well, you know I’m not coming easy.”

Clearing her throat, Kara said, “Really guys?”

“Oh, sorry, Kara,” Alex said, blushing slightly.

Maggie stepped in, kissing her girlfriend.  “Hey, Kara.  How’s my second favorite superhero?”

“Hey, what did I do?” Kara asked stiffening noticeably.

Maggie chuckled.  “I met the competition.”

“What does that mean?” Alex asked.

“Yesterday, we were at an alien medical clinic where Cadmus was attacking.  They had us pinned down until…” Grinning, Maggie waggled her eyebrow.  “Green Lantern showed up.”

“Oh, cool.  What was she…?  Ahem, I mean, glad you had back-up, Mags,” Alex said as her eyes flicked over to her sister.  “Was everyone okay?”

“No fatalities, so yeah.  We were lucky.”

“Did you talk to her, to Green Lantern?” Kara asked in a tone that didn’t quite manage casual.

Maggie shook her head, her smile growing.  “She’s not you, Little Danvers.  You’ll always be National City’s hero.  Everyone loves you.  She helped and then was gone.  Not very personable, you know?”

“Awww, Mags.  Bring it here,” Kara said holding out her arms and hugging Maggie close.

“That was a nasty Cadmus attack,” Alex noted.

“It’s always a nasty Cadmus attack.  There’s no other kind,” Maggie added as she stepped away from the hero. “So, let’s get to more festive things.  Kara, the place looks great.  Ready for your big date?”

“Um, sort of?”  Kara fidgeted with her hands as she walked around a bit.  “I haven’t actually told Lena who I am yet.”

“Who you are?” Maggie asked.

Kara nodded.

Putting her hand on her girlfriend’s shoulder, Alex clarified, “Lena and Kara haven’t spoken since yesterday, so Kara hasn’t gotten to drop the Supergirl bomb yet.”

“Ah, got it.  You think she’ll be cool though, right?”

“You want a beer?” Alex asked.

“Is the Pope Catholic?” Maggie replied.

While Alex left the room and headed into the kitchen, Kara shrugged.

“Look, Little Danvers, I know I don’t know Lena, but you’re pretty darn protective and loyal toward that girl.  She feels the same way?”

After a moment of consideration, Kara replied, “She says we’re family.”

“Okay, then even if things are rough, you’ll get through them.”  Maggie took the beer Alex offered her.  “Thanks, babe.  Relationships aren’t about things always going right.  Relationships are about having the foundation to fix things when there’s a problem.  The way you talk about it, you and Lena have that.”

With a little smile, Kara nodded.  “Yeah, I think we do.  Thanks, Maggie.”

“Hey, no problem.  I’m here for your queer dating advice and your vegan dip,” Maggie replied, lifting her tote bag.

“Do you need to put that into the refrigerator?” Kara asked.

“I probably should at least until the rest of the guests get here.  When will that be?” Maggie asked.

“Let me help you,” Alex offered, leading Maggie into the kitchen.

Kara looked at her cell phone again. “People should be here at…Oh, no!  Look at the time.  I’ve got to go!”  In a flash, she’d changed into her costume for the evening.

“Hey, Kara, the fridge is pretty full.  Where should I—?”

A breeze whipped through the room that and an open window marking Kara’s exit.

“Kara?” Alex asked, leaning over the kitchen counter.

 

<><> 

 

Cellphone in her hand, Lena paced in her penthouse.  She looked at the time as the moments marched closer and flinched when the clock changed over to 7:00.  It was only seconds later when the phone rang, and she did more than flinch, she actually jumped.  She stared at Kara’s name while she calmed herself before answering.

With a smile on her face, Lena said, “Kara.”

“Hi, Lena,” Kara said, a touch of nerves coming through the phone.  “Well, it’s seven.”

“So it is,” Lena answered smoothly.  “Are you downstairs because—”

“I’m at your door.”

“At my…uh.  Hold on.”  Pulling open her front door, Lena stared into the empty hallway.  “Kara, are you at the downstairs front door?”

“No, Lena, wrong door.” She tapped on the glass three times.

Lena heard the gentle wrapping both through the phone and in her apartment.  Closing the front door, she stepped back from the foyer.  There, hovering at her balcony door, was Supergirl.  The brunette twisted her head to the side and stared, trying to reconcile her brain with what she saw, what she heard, what she knew to be true up until the moment, and a new truth that was trying to crash its way into her reality.

“Um…Kara, I—”

Supergirl waved, moving her lips, while over the phone Kara said, “Hi, Lena.”

Lena’s gasp was audible both through the phone and without it.  The CEO made her way across the apartment to the balcony.  Her hand only trembled slightly as she opened the door.  Slowly, she stepped back, making room for the other woman to enter but said nothing.

Supergirl dropped to the balcony, a gentle smile on her lips.  She nodded once, stepping inside the penthouse but keeping her hand on the door.  “Look, Lena I wanted to tell you yester—” Shaking her head, Kara pulled the phone away from her ear. “Don’t need this anymore.  Lena, I wanted to tell you yesterday, but we got interrupted.  I was going to tell you when you called me, but you didn’t.  This isn’t the kind of thing you just text someone.  Like, ‘Hey, how’s your day?  What’d you have for lunch?  By the way, I’m Supergirl.’  It just isn’t…you know?”  When Lena still didn’t respond, Kara took several steps forward.  “Lena, please say something.  This wasn’t about trust.  I trust you.  I just wanted to be myself around you.  I wanted to be able just to be Kara with all of this.  Do you understand?  Please?”

For the second time in two days, Lena turned her back on her friend and walked away.  This time it was Lena who sat on the couch, head down and unspeaking.  That nervous habit of playing with jewelry was repeated.  First, she grasped at her necklace but nearly immediately, her hands came together, the phone dropped on the couch, and she fiddled with her rings.  It took less than a minute before Lena’s hands went to cover her face and then she sat, shoulders shaking, and not a word spoken.

“Oh, Rao no.”  Watching her friend sit crying at her actions, at what was said and had been unsaid for so long, Kara felt tears fill her own eyes.  “Lena, please don’t cry.  I never meant to hurt you.  I care for you so much.  Please, tell me what I can do to fix this.  I’ll do anything.  Just give me a chance.  Please, give me a chance.”

Lifting her head, tears running down her cheeks, Lena laughed out loud.  “You, you’re Supergirl.”  The CEO shook with laughter.  “This whole time, I was so worried this whole time, and you’re Supergirl!”  Falling back on her seat on the couch, Lena covered her face with her hands and laughed all the louder.

Leaning forward, Kara stared open-mouthed.  “Wait, you think this is funny?  You’re not upset?”

“Funny?” Lena dropped her hands to her sides.  “No, it’s hysterical!”

Raising and dropping her arms until they slapped off her sides, Kara said, “Well, okay then…Are you just having a mental breakdown?”

Falling to her side on the couch, Lena said, “Maybe!”  She continued to howl with laughter.

“Okay, I’m really getting worried.  I think I would have preferred you be upset.”

Pushing herself upright, Lena wiped tears from her face.  She took a few cleansing breaths; one hand held out perhaps to keep Kara at bay.  It took a few moments, but then Lena nodded.  “All right.  I think I’m all right.”  Looking at Kara, Lena smirked and looked away again.  She held up one finger to the Girl of Steel, asking for just another moment.

“I don’t get it.  What’s so gosh darn funny?”

Shaking her head, Lena rose from the couch and made her way over to the bar, pouring herself a glass of water.  Still not looking at the blonde, Lena drained the glass.  She chanced a look back at Kara, making sure she could control herself before putting her glass down and turning fully around to face the hero.

“Okay, better,” Lena said.

“I still don’t see what was so funny.”

“Oh, Kara it’s just…you’re Supergirl.”  Lena smirked.

Arms crossed, Kara said, “Just to be clear, you didn’t already know did you?”

“Absolutely not,” Lena assured her.  “I’ve been far too preoccupied with…something else.  I mean, seeing you now, it’s rather obvious.  It’s just glasses and different clothes but then again…” Lena smirked again, clearly struggling not to laugh.

Hands held in front of her, palms up, Kara asked, “What!?”

Lena shook her head and shook a finger at the blonde.  “Oh, Kara, you’ll laugh too.”

“Well, that would be nice.  Right now I’m the one getting upset.”

Walking up to her friend and placing a palm on her cheek, Lena said, “Please don’t be.  This is good, great, actually.  This is so much better than I thought it was going to be.  And to think I was worried.”

“You were worried?”

Hand falling to her side, Lena nodded.  “Terrified.  I’ve been so stressed, and Jess, she’s told me to get over it and just ask you out already.  She’s told me that a real friendship won’t let something like this hurt it, that we have a strong foundation, but I—”

“That’s what Alex says.”

This time Lena’s laugh was a controlled chuckle.  “What a fine pair we are.  I tried to call you I have no idea how many times yesterday, but I kept chickening out.”

“I texted you to talk…twice,” Kara said holding up two fingers.  “I thought you were busy working.”

“No, I was busy being a coward.”  Sighing heavily, Lena added, “Which is actually an interesting segue.”

Kara’s phone buzzed, and she pulled it out of the secure pocket of her boot.  “Ugh, it’s Maggie.  Everyone’s there, and Lyra is challenging people to arm wrestle her.  Alex has had enough to drink that she thinks she can beat Lyra in arm wrestling.”  Kara shook her head.  “She can’t.  Lyra’s going to break my sister’s arm.  Winn built some kind of shrieking box that is supposed to make holographic ghosts, and James is fairly certain it is actually raising the spirits of the dead.”  Looking at Lena, Kara asked, “Is that a real thing on this planet?”

Mouth slightly agape, Lena gave a half-shrug/half-head shake.

Shaking her own head, Kara looked back at her phone and kept reading as texts continued to come in. “Apparently, Lucy dropped in ‘three sheets to the wind’ whatever that means, complaining about her sister Lois and the ‘ego that ate Metropolis’.  That’s a quote by the way.”  Looking up, Kara smiled.  “Hey, she’s dating my cousin, Lois, not Lucy.  I can tell you that now.  Anyway, if I don’t get over there and play hostess/bouncer, I may not have an apartment to get back to.  Hurry up.  Get changed into your costume.”

“Are you planning on wearing that?” Lena asked.

“Uh…” Looking down at herself, Kara looked back up at Lena and nodded shyly.  “See, everyone else knows.”

“Everyone?”

“I’m sorry, Lena.  I wanted to tell you, but—”

“I get it, Kara.”

“No.  I just wanted to be your friend.  Everyone else sees Supergirl, but with you, I just get to be—”

“Kara.  You just get to be yourself, not some insane set of expectations this whole world, this universe, has set has set upon your shoulders.  Sometimes it’s nice just to have a friend.”

“Exactly.  So, you’re not mad?”

“Not if you’re not.”

Head tilted to the side, Kara smiled.  “Why would I be mad?”

“I’m just going to change, all right?”

“Sure, while I still have an apartment.”

Closing her eyes, Lena took in a calming breath.  When she opened her eyes again, her face was relaxed.  Suddenly, she thrust her arms out to the side.  There was a flash of green that erupted from her center to cover her whole form.  It lasted perhaps a second, and where Lena Luthor had stood there was now the Green Lantern.  Her costume was black in the center with a white circle with a green lantern symbol on it.  Over it all she had a green coat that went to her calves with a hood that closed at the top, overlapping slightly, but that was open further down her body  It had an attached mask that only left her eyes, nose, and part of her mouth uncovered.  White gloves and boots went nearly to elbows and knees respectively.

Staggering backward, Kara barely kept her footing.

“Surprise?” Lena asked.

“I…You…I…” Kara stood open-mouthed.

Lena nodded once.  “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“Oh, Rao.  Lena, you’re…Do something.”

“Besides stand here and respirate?”

“I mean…”  Kara rolled one hand in front of her body.  “Do a Green Lantern something.”

“Oh, so, something like this?” Reaching out with one hand, an oversized green version of that hand suddenly surrounded Kara.  When Lena closed her hand tightly, the green hand did the same, capturing Supergirl.  As the CEO turned hero pulled her arm in, the Girl of Steel was suddenly pulled in to stop inches from the Green Lantern.  “Like this, you meant, yes?”

Straining to free herself, Kara said, “Um, that will do.”  Kara pressed a little harder.  “I could break out of this you know.”

“Oh, I can tell,” Lena said, releasing the other hero.

Instead of falling to the floor, Kara stayed floating inches above the ground.  She hovered in front of the other woman while a smile grew on her face.  “You’re the Green Lantern.”

As a glow covered her whole body, Lena floated up to hover even with Kara.  “And you’re Supergirl.”  Her smile was just as wide as Kara’s.

“Well…yeah.  Okay, this is…wait.  You’ve been avoiding me.  Have you been avoiding me?”

Nodding, Lena said, “I’ve been avoiding you.  Well, not Kara, Lena hasn’t been avoiding Kara, but the Green Lantern has been avoiding Supergirl.”

“Why?  We could have had team-ups.  Superhero team-ups are awesome!”  Kara gasped.  “Have you been teaming up with someone else?”

“Kara, no I—”

“Lena, we’re best friends.  If you’re going to team up with anyone, it should be with me.”

“I know.”  Dropping to the floor again, Lena took a seat on the couch.  “Honestly, I was scared to be around you.”

Taking a seat next to her friend, Kara asked, “Why?”

“As ridiculous as this now sounds, all things considered, I was afraid you’d recognize me.”

Shaking her head, Kara blew out a breath.  “Your mask covers like almost your whole face.  Even your eyes are like an eerie green now.  I can see your mouth, but that’s it.  I might recognize your lipstick.”

The green disappeared, the costume of the Lantern dissipating, and Lena was wearing her work clothes again.  “Thanks a lot.”

“What did I do?”

“You make me nervous.  You make me a nervous wreck and…” Lena held up her hand, tapping on her ring with the other hand.  “Do you know how this thing works?”

“Sort of?  Kal said it had something with willforce.  He said a Green Lantern thinks about things and makes them.”

“True.  Well, a highly simplistic description of the advanced AI that is this ring.  It does work on the wearer’s willforce.  That means it only works so long as I’m brave, courageous, and you, Supergirl, have scared me.”

“But we get along really well,” Kara replied with a small wince.

Placing her hand on the other hero’s, Lena replied, “I know we do, Kara.  Lena and Supergirl have gotten along very well in our roles.  I was so worried you’d see me like this and even you, even as good, and encouraging, and hopeful as you were, you’d see a Luthor and you wouldn’t believe in me.  I was worried you’d recognize me and doubt me, and that thought filled me with doubt in myself.  I so wanted your faith in me.”

“You have it,” Kara said placing her other hand on top of Lena’s.  “So, why have you been avoiding Clark?”

“Who?”

“Fudgenuggets,” Kara mumbled.  “Uh…this is so going to be a really funny story one day.  Why have you been avoiding—”

“Clark Kent is Superman, of course.  You said Lois Lane was dating your cousin.”  Lena shook her head as she cleared that thought away.  “Well, I won’t tell my brother who keeps trying to kill me if you don’t.”

“Deal,” Kara said with a bright smile.  “I do need to tell Clark I just outed him.”

Lena nodded then slowly rose to her feet.  “Maybe he and I should speak.  That might be best.  Anyway, I’ve been avoiding him because of Lex.  Me being a Luthor and a Green Lantern, it gives me a power over the Supers that though a limited number of Green Lanterns have possessed before, none of them were Luthors.”

“I don’t understand,” Kara said as she stood also.

Walking around the room, Lena kept speaking.  “Kara, I want to show you something.  It won’t be pleasant, but please know I’m not going to hurt you.  I just want you to understand why I’ve been avoiding your cousin.  I want you to understand what he’ll see me as when he understands what I am.  I wanted him to see a Green Lantern first and a Luthor second, all right?  Do you trust me?”  As she stopped talking, Lena turned to face her friend.

“Always,” Kara replied without hesitation.

“Thank you.”  Still several feet away from Kara, Lena reached out her hand.  The green glow appeared again, and a beam of green light arched forward.  At the end of the light, inches from Kara, it took shape into a green, crystalline mass.

“What is—?” Gasping, Kara fell to her knees.  “Kryptonite.”  As quickly as it had appeared, the stone was gone.

“Are you all right?” Lena said, standing by her friend’s side and helping Kara to sit on the couch again.

Kara nodded, breathing coming a little heavy.  “Lena, you made Kryptonite.  How did you make Kryptonite?”

“There’s a synthetic formula for Kryptonite as you know, Kara.  It’s highly unstable.  You saw that when Mr. Corbin died.  It was created by Lex and stored on Luthor Corp. servers.  I’ve seen it.  I know it.  Anything I know and understand—”

“You can create,” Kara said with sudden understanding.  “Lena, you can make Kryptonite with your mind.”

“Technically my will, but I also need knowledge.  You understand now why I thought your cousin might not be thrilled to have a Luthor with this kind of power flying about?”

“But you wouldn’t—”

“Kara Danvers knows that.”

“Supergirl is Kara Danvers.”

Lena chuckled.  “Which I didn’t know.  God, we’re such a mess.  I should have just told you—”

“I should have told you but…” Kara shrugged.  “We’re both idiots.  Are we both idiots?”

“We’re both idiots.  Will you talk to your cousin for me?”

Kara waved a hand dismissively.  “Sure, Kal’s a pushover.  I used to change his diapers.”

“But…he’s older than you.  Isn’t he?”

“How about I explain that over punch tonight.”

“Fine, so long as the punch is spiked.  I can’t face tonight sober.  I’ve been a mass of nerves all day keeping myself away from the whiskey so I could face you head on tonight.  I deserve drinks, many drinks, all the drinks.”

Kara laughed.  “My sister fixed the punch.  It might just be vodka with red food dye.”  As her eyebrows creased, her smile fell away, and she pointed at Lena.  “Wait, if you have this ring, why do you keep almost dying?”

 “Almost,” Lena repeated.

Arms crossed and eyes narrowed, Kara asked, “Did you have the ring the day we met?”

“The day you saved me when my brother sent the drones after my helicopter?” Lena asked.

Kara nodded.

“Yes.”

“Okay, then why didn’t you do anything?  You could have died.”

“I’m sorry, nothing?  You mean like knock out four drones while you were flat on your back in a crater in the helipad after a drone missile hit you?” Lena asked.

Mouth agape, Kara said, “No you did not!”

Smirking, Lena replied, “Yes, I did.  I only let that last one hit my helicopter because I saw you getting up.  I…”

“Got nervous?”

Lena nodded.  “God, yes.  I can deal with drones, but Supers get to me.”

“Wait, if you had it that day, then you had it the day at your party.  What happened then?”

“I planned on using the black body field generator to stop the robbers.  I was trying to build up some goodwill between Supergirl and me.  The generator got damaged in the attack, and I was going just to phase my hand inside and repair it, and then your friend, Winn, showed up under the table where I was about to fix it, and I had to repair it manually.  I certainly don’t mind repairing things manually.  I love the science, but we were short on time, and you were in trouble.  I really needed to work unobserved.”

Supergirl smiled, a little laugh escaping.  “Well, now I’m totally confused.  What happened the day you were talking to me, and those guys pushed you off your balcony.”

Lena laughed.  “They didn’t push me.  I sort of…fell.”

“You sort of fell?”

“Well, I couldn’t just transform in the room.  So, I went out to the balcony and sort of fell off.  What, did you think I considered the balcony a great escape route?  Oh, come on, Kara.  I’m not an idiot.  I had you on the phone.  If I’d needed help, I’d have at least told you to call the police.”

“You did that on purpose?”

“Yes!  And then you caught me, caught me in your arms.  I had just slipped my ring from my pocket onto my finger and was just about to transform.  I felt like a babbling idiot by the time you got me back to my office.  All I could think to say was ‘Well, that’s lucky’ when I was really thinking, ‘Jesus fucking Christ that was too close!’  You nearly discovered my secret identity that day.”

Kara chuckled.  “You know, I should have realized you were kind of unfazed by falling off the balcony, but I was too worried you’d figure out I was Supergirl.”

“Absolutely not!  I was too worried you’d figure out I was Green Lantern.”  Lena smiled.  “Can you believe that—?”

“Wait, wait, I have another one,” Kara said.  “How about the time Corbin kidnapped you from prison and then we both almost died when his heart blew up on that mountain?  That time were you ready to, you know, go Green Lantern?”

“Ah, no.  That time we both almost died,” Lena admitted.

“What?  Why?  That one was close, Lena.  I really could have used your help that time.”

Lena nodded.  “I know.  This one is really embarrassing.  Promise you won’t tell anyone?”

“I’m pretty sure we’re in ‘keep each other’s secrets zone’ here.”

“True enough.  Okay, so, somewhere in a National City police records room is an invoice with my name on it.  It lists out everything I had on my when your sister’s girlfriend arrested me, and it includes: my clothing, wallet with cash and credit cards, a Cartier watch, platinum earrings and necklace, and a…” Lena mumbled, the rest of her words inaudible.

“I’m sorry, what?  I have super hearing, and even I couldn’t get that.”

Lena sighed loudly.  “Fine.  A green AI ring powered by willforce, all right?”

“What!?”

“It probably just says green ring or emerald ring since it was mine.  I told the police it was emerald and incredibly valuable, threatened to sue them, the usual Luthor spiel, when they collected it and invoiced it with the rest of my possessions.  I didn’t think I’d actually get processed.  I thought I’d just end up in holding and my lawyers would have me out in a few hours, but my mother must have pulled quite a few strings.  Then Corbin busted me out, and I was too far from police inventory to summon my ring to me.”

Hand over her mouth, Kara said, “Oh Rao, that’s—”

“Not funny!” Lena pointed.  “That’s not funny, Kara.  I swear the whole time I was on that mountain I have never been angrier with my mother, and that’s saying something.  I wanted her either to kill me or let me go so I could get my ring.  I didn’t matter which.  I just needed to get to it before the Guardians found out I’d…misplaced it.”  Eyes narrow slits, Lena said, “It’s not funny, Kara.”

“Not at all,” Kara agreed, still smiling.  With a struggle, she managed to keep from laughing.  “I just can’t believe that you’re Green Lantern, and still I keep having to save your life.  You have to admit it’s kind of funny.”

“It’s because every time you show up as Supergirl my concentration wavers.  I worry you’ll find out I’m a Luthor, and it will ruin everything.  I’m perfectly capable of saving other people and myself when you’re not around.”

“Sure you are.”  Kara grinned.

“If you’ve followed the news you know I’ve done so, not to mention I’ve stopped the other eight attempts on my life.”

“What other eight attempts on your life?” Kara asked, her mirth suddenly gone.

“The ones I haven’t mentioned.”  Lena waited a few beats then clarified, “The ones the Green Lantern took care of.”

Kara gasped.  “No!”

“Kara, you can’t always be here.  I’m just one citizen of National City.  Your job is to take care of all citizens of National City. My job is to take care of all people within my sector, all of the people under my protection, and that includes those within National City…even Supergirl and Superman.”

“I’m under your protection?”

Arms crossed, a green glow covered Lena as she rose a bit from the ground and slid smoothly to stop inches from Kara.  “You are…Supergirl.”

Kara swallowed hard.  “You’re doing that eyebrow thing, aren’t you?  I can’t tell under your mask and hood, but you are, aren’t you?”

Her smile slowly growing, Lena hummed her response. “Mhmmm.”

“Oh, Rao.” Head dropping forward for just a moment; Kara had managed a smile when she looked up again.  “Uh…we should go while I still have an apartment.  Do you need to…?”  Kara waved one finger up and down over Lena.

“Do I need to what?”

“You know, change.”

“Ah.”  Lena shrugged.  “Well, do I?”

“Oh!”  Kara bit her lip.  “Do you want to tell them?”

“You trust them.  Right now only Jess knows.  I’m sure she’d appreciate it if she didn’t have to keep faking lab emergencies every time there’s a major fire, my mother’s xenophobic army attack, or an alien fleet is planning an invasion.”

Gasping and covering her mouth, Kara said, “You scammed me.  Jess and you, that lab thingy that was so you could sneak out as a superhero.”

“Oh please.” Lena waved dismissively at the blonde.  “That helped you as much as it did me.  I saw you out there.  I avoided you, but I saw you.  You would have run off on me if I didn’t run off on you.”

“Well, that’s true,” Kara admitted.  “Are you ready to meet a lot of friends, and you know, meet them as Green Lantern and yourself?”

“Kara.” Stepping forward, Lena took both of Kara’s hands in hers standing so closely their bodies almost touched.  “I’m more nervous about meeting them as your date.”

“Oh, Rao.  This whole Green Lantern thing got me so distracted; I totally forgot this was a date.”

Lena laughed and headed over to the balcony, smiling.  She took to the air, saying.  “Come on.  Let’s go.”

Closing the door behind her, Kara floated up and said, “Wait, is this why you put a balcony in at your office?”

Arms crossed, Lena just hovered in mid-air.  “What, did you think I did it for, you?

“Uh…” Kara smiled. “People are going to freak out when you show up tonight.  I don’t know if we have a best costume contest, but if we do, you’ll win.”

Lena shrugged.  “It is a great costume.  I had something else because I didn’t realize you’d be dressed for heroing but…this one cleans up easily.”

Kara grinned.  “Plus, if there’s an emergency, we’re already dressed.”

“Well, mine’s just a ring.  I’m pretty much always dressed.”

“I’m so jealous,” Kara said.  “That would save me so much on shirts.”

Lena laughed.  “Race you?”

Kara chuckled.  “Lena, please.  Green Lanterns are cool, but Supergirl is much faster.”

“Really?”  Smirking, Lena said, “Catch.”

When something green was lobbed to her, Kara reached out to grab it without thinking.  A split-second later, as her brain caught up to the green and slightly glowing rock in her hands, she gasped out loud.  “Kryptonite!”  It was several pounding heartbeats later when she realized she felt absolutely fine that it occurred to her that although this looked like Kryptonite, it must not have the same radioactive signature.  “Hey, this isn’t actually—”

That was when the engines of the jet plane hit her full on in the chest, knocking her head over heels again and again.  By the time Kara had recovered, all she could see was a green light disappearing in the general direction of her apartment and marking Lena’s exit. 

Grinning, Kara said, “Oh, you tricky Luthor.  By Rao, that’s an amazing ring.”


	4. Party Time, Excellent

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara and Lena go to Kara's Halloween party. The big reveal does not go as expected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so quite a few people have asked for a fourth chapter of this showing what happens at the party. Here it is. I hope all y'all enjoy.

Kara and Lena hovered outside of Kara’s apartment, each with a hand on the bricks and a big smile on their face.  The race over had been close.  Even with Lena’s lead, Kara being able to make sharper turns had helped her to catch up.  They’d rushed through the cityscape making buildings and people alike tremble at their antics and the blasts of air that followed them.  There was an interruption that sidetracked them briefly, but they quickly got back on track to finish up their merry chase.  In the end, however, there could only be one winner in a race.

“A tie?” Kara said, her smile only growing.

Lena sighed, the glow of her eyes disappearing for just a moment when she blinked only to return with shocking color, a reminder of her new nature.  “I suppose, though if it weren’t for that mugging on Belcher street—”

“I would have won,” Kara interrupted cheerily.

Lena snorted her initial response.  “Please.  Who was it who actually caught the mugger?”

“Who was it who heard the woman yell for help?”

“Who was it who dropped off the mugger with the police?”

“That was a team effort.”

Lena considered Kara’s words for a moment.  “All right, true.  I think the police were also right that it was a bit of an overkill.  It doesn’t take both of us to stop a mugger who uses a plastic spork for a weapon.”

“We probably scared him out of his life of crime.”

“I think it was probably when I ‘dropped’ him and you caught him one-story lower.”

Kara bit her lower lip, looking sheepish.  “Well, he shouldn’t have called you that name.  He was yelling, ‘Let me go.  Let me go’, and you only did what he asked.”  Brows furrowing, Kara leaned in a bit closer to Lena.  “You knew I’d catch him, right?”

“Of course,” she replied with a casual shrug.  “You are ever the hero.”

Kara beamed back before her gaze shifted to the nearby window of her apartment.  “So, you ready to do this thing and make the big reveal to the gang?”

“I won’t get any readier.”

“I’ll take that as a yes.”  Drifting closer, Kara squeezed Lena’s hand.  “Don’t worry.  Everyone is going to love having a new superhero in the group, and I’ll be right next to you if you get nervous.”

“If I get too nervous, I’ll lose my willforce and won’t look the part.”  Lena cocked her head toward the window.  “Let’s get in there before my anxiety overwhelms me, and I’m the one you have to save from a nasty impact with the sidewalk.”

Kara settled on the fire escape, pulling open her living room window and climbing inside.  Lena was right behind her.  The party was in full swing, people drinking, music playing, apples being bobbed for.  Faux-cobwebs draped the walls, and a large, sparkly spider ornament hung from the light fixture in the center of the living room.  Several bowls of candy sat on different tables.  The smell of food and the sound of merriment crashed over them as they entered.

“Ahem.”  Kara cleared her throat, smiling out at the group as she took Lena’s hand in her own.  “Look who I found.”

Conversation died, only the sound of ‘Monster Mash’ playing from the speakers attached to Alex’s phone filled the room.  After a few moments, the silence grew awkward, and Lena began to fidget next to Kara.  In turn, Kara turned and offered one of her heartening smiles.

Stepping forward and releasing Lena’s hand, Kara held out both hands toward Lena as if the other woman were a prize on a game show.  “It’s Lena.  She’s Green Lantern.”

Finally, Alex stepped forward to sway slightly in front of Lena.  She looked the other woman up and down several times, peering under the hood at the glowing eyes before a smile broke out on Alex’s face.  “Hey, great costume, Luthor.  You really look like her.”

Lena chuckled.  “Well, that’s because—”

“Close but not quite,” Maggie said as she strode up, wrapping an arm around Alex’s waist.  “The green isn’t the right shade, and she’s taller than you.  You should have worn heels.”

Lena blinked several times in rapid succession.  “Green Lantern is taller than me?”

Maggie nodded.  “I just saw her today.  She’s Kara’s height maybe taller.  Plus, the logo on her costume is bigger.  It’s pretty close though.”  Maggie held up her beer in a sort of toast.  “Nice job.  It must be nice to have your budget for holiday stuff.”

While Lena stared blankly, Kara smiled again, stepping closer.  “Guys, you don’t get it.  Lena really is—”

“Hey, hey, guess what I am!”  Winn surged forward, his hand with plastic cup thrust forward, the contents spilling over where they would have covered Kara if the Super’s reflexes weren’t so good.  “Oops, sorry.”

Lena pulled the drink from his hand, sniffing at the red liquid inside.  Her crinkling nose was mostly disguised by her mask.  “Good Lord.  You weren’t kidding about the punch.  What octane is this?”

Kara leaned closer, sniffing briefly before recoiling.  “I think it’s diesel.  Alex, you’re going to kill someone with this stuff.”

“Whimps.”  Alex took the cup from Lena and tilted back her head, finishing off the liquid.

“I’ll go get the paper towels … again.”  Maggie sighed as she wandered off to the kitchen.

“Now guess me.  Guess me.”  Winn held out his arms, showing off his t-shirt and jeans.  “No one here has been able to guess me.”

Lena took a step back from Winn’s flammable breath and examined the outfit.  The jeans and sneakers were generic, and the t-shirt was white with numbers covering it in black, wide-tipped sharpie.  There were four sets of eight numbers, each group on top of the next, and they read, “01010111, 01101001, 01101110, 01101110.”  Lena frowned for only a moment before a sly smile came to her face.  “You’re Winn, a computer nerd.”

“Woo Hoo.”  Winn held up both his hands above his head.  “Let’s hear it for geek power.  I knew I could count on you, Lena.  Everyone else was clueless, but I knew you’d be able to read basic.  Put it there.”  He held a fist in front of himself, and when she matched the action, he stepped forward intent on knocking their fists together.  His drunken step took him wildly off course, and he swung straight at Lena, his fist connecting around her collarbone.  “Whoopsie.  You okay?”

“I’ll survive,” Lena replied with a sigh.  “Look, Alex, Winn, when Kara says I’m the Green Lantern what she means is … I’m the Green Lantern.”

Both smiling, Alex and Winn just nodded.

“They’re really drunk.”  Kara looked back and forth between Alex and Winn.  “Just think how funny this will be in the morning after they’ve sobered up.”

Lena nodded.  “I think we should have gotten here earlier before they got into the punch.”

“Yeah, maybe we shouldn’t have stopped for National City’s nefarious spork mugger.”

Lena hummed slightly.  “Falling prey to a spork mugger is a bit like Darwinism.  Perhaps we should have let nature take its course.”

“Hey, Lena, we have a surprise reveal,” Winn said putting an arm over Lena’s shoulders as he drew her to another part of the living room, his weight resting heavily on her.  “Kara isn’t the only costumed defender of the city here tonight.”

“You don’t say,” Lena deadpanned.

“Nope.  We also have,” he held out his free hand, grinning madly, “Ta-da!  It’s Guardian.”

They stopped in front of an armored figure holding a drink in one hand and a candy apple, with three bites taken out of it, by the stick in the other hand.

“Can I take the helmet off now?” Guardian asked.  “I can’t eat or drink anything with this thing on.”

Winn reached forward, pulling the helmet up and off the other man to reveal James’ face.

“Hey,” James said.

“Heeey,” Lena replied slowly as she leaned closer.  She rapped her knuckles on the breastplate before allowing her gaze to taken in the rest of the outfit.  After several blinks, she stood upright again.  “This isn’t a costume, is it?”

“Nope,” James said around a mouthful of apple.  “It’s a uniform.”

“I made it!” Winn informed holding the helmet much too close to Lena’s face and making the woman step back.  “I’m a freakin’ genius!”

“Truly.”  Lena ran a finger along the edge of the helmet.  “So, you’re Guardian.”

“And I’m the tech geek in the van.”  Winn smiled.  “Pretty awesome, right?”

James sipped his drink, clearing his mouth.  “Your costume is awesome too, Lena.  How long did that take to make, or did you buy it?”

“No, no, I made it myself.”

“Cool.”  James smiled, taking another bite of his apple.  “You, Kara, and I should do a group picture tonight.  I think even the real Green Lantern will do a double take when she sees that on Insta.”

“Oh, I think she’ll be all right.”  Lena smirked.

“Hey, how do you make your eyes glow like that.  They’re green all the way across and like … glowy.”  Winn swayed slightly, blinking and squinting as he tried to focus.

After several beats of silence, Lena said, “Contacts.”

“Oh, yeah, makes sense.” Winn nodded, nearly colliding with Lena when a firm hand clapped him on his back.  He turned, smiling at the other person.  “Hey, sweetie.  Do you know Lena?”

“Lena Luthor,” a woman’s voice responded as a hand was stuck out, the face obscured by a rubber mask.  “I am Lyra Strayd from Starhaven, and the human Winn Schott is my mate.”

“Oh, how nice for you both.”  Lena glanced between Winn and Lyra.  “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.  We are both pleased.”  She took Winn’s hand and stepped closer to Lena.  “Is it your intention to mate with Supergirl?”

“Uhhhh.”  What little could be seen of Lena’s face colored brightly.  “That’s an interesting costume you’re wearing.”

Lyra squeezed the knot in her tie before straightening her suit jacket.  She pulled the rubber mask up so that it rested on her head, showing her face.  “Thank you.  I bought it at a costume shop, but for some reason, the salesperson told me the costume I was wearing was better.  I was not wearing a costume.”

“There’s a lot of that going around,” Lena mumbled.

Pulling the mask back down, Lyra held her hands out in front of her, fingers raised to make Vs.  “Winn  told me it was imperative that I repeat this phrase while wearing the mask.”  She cleared her throat.  “I am not a crook.”

Winn giggled.  “That gets me every time.”

Lyra pulled the mask back up to rest on her head again.  “I don’t understand why.  It is the truth.  I am no longer a crook.”

James smiled, laying a hand on her shoulder.  “No, Lyra, you see, President Nixon—”

Lena wandered away from the group discussion to the punch bowl, taking the ladle and scooping through the red liquid to fill a cup.

“You okay?” Kara asked as she came up alongside Lena.

“Well, obviously I didn’t want a negative reaction, but I was hoping for some kind of reaction.”

“Hey, at least no one laughed at you,” Kara said gently elbowing Lena.  “Want me to get everyone’s attention and make sure they understand?”

“No, it doesn’t matter.  The point of being a Green Lantern …” Lena stopped, holding her plastic cup above her head to peer at the contents at the bottom.  She lowered the cup and concentrated, a little line of green coming out of her ring to scoop across the bottom of the interior of the cup.  When she pulled the scooper free, it held several pieces of candy.

“Ooooh, candy corn.”  Kara grabbed them all from Lena, popping them into her mouth and chewing, but the smile quickly left her face.  “Okay, I’m not affected by Earth alcohol, but this stuff is strong even for me.  What did Alex put in there?”

Lena took another sip, considering.  “I’m going with paint thinner, paint thinner and sugar.”  She took another sip.  “I’ve had worse.”

“Really?” 

Lena shrugged.  “Frat parties.”

“Oh, I guess that makes sense.  Being immune to alcohol—” Kara stopped speaking when her phone chimed, and she pulled it out of her boot, frowning at whatever was on the screen.  “We’ve got an emergency down at the docks.  Two ships collided.  One is taking on water, and the other looks like it may capsize.  I’ve got to go.”

“Want some help?”

“Superhero team up?” Kara asked, with a broad smile.  “Yes!”

Lena chuckled as she placed her cup down on a table.  “Try to act a bit less excited while we’re pulling people from the water.  They might take it the wrong way.”

Kara nodded, her face grave before she flashed away to stand in front of the window.  Smiling, the Super stood with her back to the window, arms outstretched.  “This time I’m leaving first.  No headstart for you, Luthor.”

“Oh, definitely.”  Lena strolled over to lean against the wall next to the window.  “I won’t even leave through the window.”

“You’re taking the elevator down?  I don’t need that much of a head start.”

“Well,” Lena grinned, “I didn’t say that.”  Her smile grew, and then she literally went through the wall.  She didn’t make a hole, she just fell through it as if it weren’t there.

Kara gasped.  “She can phase?”  She yanked the window open again, leaning through the portal.  “You can phase?  You are such a cheater!”  In a blur of red and blue, Kara was gone, streaking through the air after the fading green blur.

Inside, conversation had stopped once again.  The group stared at the open window left by the Super.  James walked over to the wall, knocking in several places as he checked for consistent solidness.  Winn stood gaping, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water, no sound except the occasional sputter coming out.  Maggie also stared for several moments before a little grin came to her face.  Then a cup was thrust into the detective’s hand.

“Hey, where are you going?” Maggie asked Alex.

A befuddled looking Alex shook her head.  “To get some water.  I think I made the punch too strong.  You won’t believe what I just thought I saw.”

 

<><> 

 

It was nearly two hours later when the window opened again and two laughing superheroes climbed back into the living room.

“What’s the 3.141592653% tax that sailors charge?”

“I don’t know, what?” Kara asked.

“Pi Rates,” Lena replied.

Kara moaned, still smiling.  “Okay, that’s the worst joke yet.  It’s both nautical and math related.”

“Which I would argue makes it the best joke yet.”

“You would argue about anything.”

“I would not.  I can be …” Lena paused, smirking.  “Well, I suppose I just proved your point for you with my arguing about arguing.”

“Hey, you said it, not me.”  Her attention drawn to the group in the room, Kara’s gaze flitted from staring eye to staring eye.  “Um, hey guys.  There better still be cupcakes.”

Hands nudged Alex forward, and she swatted back at them but walked toward the two superheroes.  Clearing her throat, Alex managed to pull her gaze from Lena to her sister.  “Kara, Lena’s the Green Lantern.”

“Duh!  We told you that when we first got here.”

“Yeah, I know but …” Alex looked back at the group behind that nodded their encouragement before facing the other superhero.  “Lena, you’re Green Lantern.”

“Yes, I know,” Lena replied dryly, “and you’re drunk.”

“Not so drunk that I don’t know you’re Green Lantern.”

“I would argue that point,” Lena replied.  When Kara cleared her throat, Lena pointed at the Super.  “Don’t say it.”

Alex leaned closer, peering under Lena’s hood.  “So, it’s really … I mean, that’s really …”

With a thought, Lena’s mask and hood disappeared from her costume, leaving her face and head fully exposed.  “Yes, it’s really me, Alex.  Perhaps you could help me convince your sister that I no longer require her protection in my civilian persona.  Technically, she’s under my protection now.”

“And maybe you could help me convince Lena that her life is under daily threat of death, and she’s a citizen of National City which puts her under my protection.”

“Ahhhh …”  Alex shook her head.  “I’m sorry, but I’m still stuck on Lena really being the Green Lantern.”

“Truly, Alex?  Your sister is a solar-powered alien, and you’re stuck on me having a high-tech ring?”

“Ooooh, I want to see the ring!  I want to see the ring!”  Spurred into action, Winn pulled himself out of his stupor and stumbled forward.  “It’s some crazy alien technology, right?”

“Incredibly advanced alien technology, yes,” Lena replied.

“Okay, but how does it work?”  Winn reached toward Lena’s hand.  “Do you know?”

“I don’t use anything I don’t understand.”  Lena lifted her hand, her glove disappearing to reveal the entirety of the ring.  “Are you familiar with Bell’s Theorem?”

Winn nodded even as his face screwed up in concentration.  “Yeah, it’s uh … It’s uh.  Oh, got it!  Once two objects or particles connect, there is always an energy linking them.  Particles can communicate with non-local particles, no matter the distance, instantaneously, so long as those particles have connected in the past.”

“Very good, Mr. Schott.  You see, all matter is energy.  The punch in your cup or this table,” Lena knocked on the end table, “the difference isn’t liquid and solid; the difference is that they emit their energy differently, and we, humans, emit energy.  All of that energy is connected.”

“That explains how the ring uses you as a conduit to create objects—”

“It does?” Jimmy asked

“... but how does it create objects?”  Winn thrust his cup forward where it sloshed over the rim.

“Seriously?”  Maggie stomped off toward the kitchen.  “If alcohol abuse were a crime, I’d arrest all you drunk mo-fos.”

“I may be a tad drunk bit—”

“You’re a whole lot drunk bit, Winn,” Kara said with an eye roll.

“But I’m still the resident science nerd around here.”

“Winn,” Kara placed a hand gently on his shoulder, “don’t forget about Lena.  I think you might have some competition for that title.”

“We should have some kind of trivia contest or something to see who’s the best,”  Winn suggested.

“Like a nerd-off?” James asked.

Winn nodded briskly.  “Come on, Lena, your brain against mine.”

“Perhaps another time when there’s more blood in your alcohol stream.”

“I’m good!”  Winn began to flail his arms about.  “I’m totally—”  He got too wild, literally tossing the contents of his cup out and at the couch.

Suddenly, a large green bowl appeared, catching the liquid and then turning into an orb.  It moved over Winn’s cup as a pour spout was created.  Tipping, the vessel refilled Winn’s cup with the spilled contents.

“Cool.”  Winn grinned broadly.  “So, how does it do that part?  How can you affect other things?”

“The ring uses my energy to create a compressed photon stream making hard-light structures.”

“I’ve done some work with hard-light.  How are you able to maintain the structure?  It would dissipate.”

“Correct, but not if you used an electromagnetic field to contain it.  The ring creates such a field so that the things that are connected with me through my experiences can be recreated into hard-light structures.”  Lena smiled down at the ring on her hand.  “It really is the loveliest ring.  I’m so tempted to take it apart and see how it’s constructed.”

“Lena,” Kara placed a hand on Lena’s shoulder, “don’t take apart your Green Lantern ring.”

“I’m sure I can put it back together.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m sure too,” Kara smiled, “but just … don’t.  I’ve met a Guardian of the Universe.  I don’t think they would take kindly to you tinkering with the ring.”

Winn staggered forward, grabbing Lena’s hand and staring at the ring.  “If you take it apart, can I help?”

With a shake of her head, Kara walked away leaving the nerds to their science talk.  She began stacking cupcakes and brownies on a plate.

“So,” James smiled as he sidled up next to Kara, “Lena is a Green Lantern, huh?”

“Yup,” Kara replied the P popping.

“That’s ah … that’s cool, Kara.  So, are you two going to be fighting crime together?”

“I sure hope so.  Superhero team-ups are the best.”  Kara chewed on a brownie.  “It’s been pretty awesome when you and I have teamed up, hasn’t it?”

James nodded, his gaze drifting over to Lena.  “So, you and Lena, the two of you, you’re ah …”

“This is a date, James,” Kara replied making him return his attention to her.  “Lena and I are on a date.  Hey, that means we had a crime-fighting date.  Awesome.”

“Yeah.”  James glanced over at Lena again for a moment before turning back to Kara, his smile broad.  “I’m glad for you.  Green Lanterns are good people.  Lena must be something pretty special.”

“She is.  I really like her.”

“And you’ve trusted her for a while.  I guess your positive attitude paid off.”  He grabbed two cups from the table, filling them each with a ladle of punch.  “To you and Lena.  May you have many good days fighting crime or whatever else you do on dates.”

Kara laughed, taking the cup he offered and drinking with him.  Then she coughed.  “Okay, Alex really did something dangerous here.  I’m tasting rum, tequila, maybe some botulinum, and just a hint of ricin.”

“Whew!”  James waved his hand in front of his mouth.  “I think you’re right.  Do I still have my eyebrows?” 

“I think you should be more concerned with your liver.”

“What are we discussing?” Lena asked as she grabbed a cup and filled it with punch.

“Done discussing ring dissection with Winn?” Kara asked.

“He went off on some Star Wars tangent.  He has Maggie and Alex pinned down over there, so I snuck away while he was distracted.”

Kara glanced over at where Maggie and her sister stood awkwardly in front of a wildly gesturing Winn.  “Uh ... James?”

“I’m on it.  Guardian to the rescue,” he said, heading over and clapping Winn on the back.

“So, everyone seems to have taken you as a Green Lantern fairly well.”

“Much better than I expected.”  Lena took a swig of her drink, her nose crinkling.

“Go easy on that stuff.  I’m pretty sure it’s toxic to humans.”  Kara stared inside her cup.  “It may even be toxic to Kryptonians.”

“Well, I have a little bit of an advantage with being a Green Lantern.”

“How so?”

Lena tapped her ring.  “Instant sober when I want, so I can drink as much as I want, enjoy the buzz, then get rid of it before the hangover hits.”

“Wow, that’s …” Kara leaned in closer.  “Don’t tell my sister.  She’d probably kill for that.”

Lena chuckled.  “I know.  The flying, phasing through walls, making objects with my mind, they’re all fine powers but never getting another hangover, that’s the best one.”

At a knock on the door, Kara furrowed her brows as she stared through it.  “What are they doing here?”  She crossed the room opening the door to reveal a man and a woman.  “Kal?  What are you doing here?”

“I was invited,” Superman replied.  “You invited me.”

“And me!” Lois said stepping into the apartment.  “Wow, the place looks fabulous.  I love this holiday.”

“As do I,” Superman said.  “There’s nothing like a celebration where everyone is in disguise.”

“No costume for you today, Kara?” Lois asked.

“What?” She looked down at herself.  “Oh, I forgot.  I guess I came as myself.  Actually,” she took Superman by the arm, “can I speak to you privately for a moment?  It’s kind of important.”

While the two Supers wandered to a quiet corner, Lois approached Lena, hand outstretched.  “I’m Lois Lane.”

“Yes, Miss Lane, I’m familiar with your work.  I’m Lena Luthor.”

“I know.”  Lois smiled brightly.  “So, you're supposed to be the Green Lantern?”

Lena fiddled with her ring and laughed nervously.  “Yes, my costume.  It’s, ah …” Her gaze faded off to the Supers before returning to Lois again.  “I made it myself.”

“Well, it looks great.”  Lois poured a ladle of punch into a cup.

“Be careful drinking that, Miss Lane.  Alex made it, and we’re fairly certain it’s toxic to humans.”

“Oh, got it.  I’ll be careful.”  Lois winked rather obviously at Lena before taking a sip.  “Not bad.  I’ve had stronger, but this is pretty good.  What’s that sweet flavor?”

“Candy corn.  I think Alex wanted it to be extra festive.”  As the Supers approached, Lena stiffened.

Kara smiled as she stood partway between the other two heroes.  “Lena, I’d like to introduce—”

“Superman,” Lena said, her hands still fidgeting, “I realize your history with my family has been less than desirable—”

“Lena—” Kara started to say.

“... but please allow me to assure you that I have no ill intentions toward aliens.”

“Lena—”

“As a matter of fact, your cousin, Supergirl, and I are on quite good terms.  We’ve been friends for over a year, and—”

“Lena—”

“... I’m sure she can attest to how helpful I’ve been to this city and my overall intentions.”

“Lena—”

“Also, the Guardians of the Universe have seen fit—”

“Lena!” 

Frozen mid-sentence, Lena looked a Kara who was smiling, her brows furrowed.  “Please, Kara, if I don’t get this out right away, I’m going to freeze up later.”

Kara patted Lena on the arm.  “You’ll just have to call this a test run, then.  Lena, I’d like to introduce J’onn J’onnz.  He’s a Martian shapeshifter.”

Frowning, Lena stared at the Superman look-a-like before turning to Lois.  “So that is …?”

“M’gann M’orrz, also from Mars.”

M’gann waved and took another sip of her drink.

“Oh, good Lord.”  Lena covered her face with her hand.  “Maybe I’ll sound like a bit less of an idiot when I actually speak to your cousin.”

“One can hope,” Kara mumbled.

“Miss Luthor,” J’onn held out his hand.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you in a less formal setting.”

“You mean when my mother isn’t trying to kill all alien life on Earth?”

“That’s another way to put it.  I must say, I’ve worked with Green Lanterns in the past, and your costume is excellent.”

“Well,” Lena looked over at Kara who smiled and nodded encouragingly, “it’s not a costume.”  With a thought, her hood and mask reappeared.

“Oh.”  J’onn nodded.  “Well, that explains the Lantern showing up so much in National City.  That speaks very well of your character.  It’s quite an undertaking.”

“Yes, another full-time job,” Lena’s mask and hood disappeared again, “just what I needed.  However, I couldn’t refuse the opportunity to do some real good for this quadrant.  As much as I love making a difference with science, this feels more … tangible.”

“I can understand that.”  J’onn nodded.  “There is a difference between knowing you’ve made a difference a **knowing** you’ve made a difference.”

“Exactly.”

“Hey, you know what we should do?” Kara asked.  “Group picture.  Guys, hey, everyone.  While Winn is still vertical … mostly … let’s do a group picture.”

They gathered together, and Maggie pulled out her phone.  “I can take the photo.”

“No, you should be in the picture,” Lena replied.  “Please, allow me.”  With a thought, a green glow ran out of Lena’s ring, along the floor, and then up again to take the phone.”

“Wow, you’re like the ultimate selfie stick,” Maggie said as she slid in between Lena and Alex.

Lena chuckled.  “Yes, the guardians will be so pleased that I’m making good use of the ring’s powers.”  She lined up her shot once everyone was in position.  “Okay, everyone say superhero.”

“Superhero!” the group said with bright smiles as the moment was commemorated.

 

<><> 

 

Later that evening, Lena and Kara were out walking off the nearly endless supply of baked sweets.  They held hands and enjoyed the cool night air of fall.

“Ugh, I shouldn’t have had that last cupcake … or the one before it.”  Lena placed her hand on her stomach.  “I’d say my costume is too tight except it is literally whatever size I need it to be.”

“Yeah, even I’m feeling kind of full.”  When Lena stopped suddenly, Kara looked back at her.  “What, I said ‘kind of’.”

When her hand was tugged, Lena began to walk again.  “All right.  For a moment there, I was starting to think M’gann snuck in and took your place.  She and J’onn gave me quite the fright when they first showed up.”

“But you didn’t lose your costume.  See, you’ll be fine around Kal.”

“Maybe.”  Lena shrugged.  “I think I wasn’t as scared as I could have been because I was too upset with you for inviting Superman and not telling me.”

“I never would,” Kara assured, shaking her head.

“I know, darling.  You’re one of the good ones.”

They walked a bit further, and then Kara said, “Maybe you should take your mask off.  Doesn’t it get uncomfortable?”

“Not unless I want it to, and I don’t.  Also, unlike a certain Kryptonian, I don’t show my face in public when I’m wearing my uniform.”

“Well, you could take it off.  You are wearing your clothes underneath.”

“True, but then it would be Lena Luthor and Supergirl strolling down the street, and that would surely make the papers.  Right now we probably look like two people out in costume.”

“You don’t think I’m recognizable?”

“Walking and holding hands with the Green Lantern?”  Lena held up their joined hands.  “I don’t think anyone would believe it’s you.”

“What if,” Kara cleared her throat, “What if I were kissing the Green Lantern; then would anyone believe it’s me?”

“Well,” Lena smiled, “there’s only one way to find out.”

Lena wrapped her arms around Kara’s neck while the Super pulled her closer.  They kissed once, hesitantly, before pulling back to look at each other, both smiling.  When neither woman protested or stepped away, they kissed again deeper and longer.  Lena’s fingers were winding in Kara’s hair while Kara held Lena by the hips, pulling the woman onto her toes and nearly off the ground.  It was a good thing they could both fly.

“I hate to break this up,” a man said as he pressed the muzzle of a pistol to Kara’s head, “but give me your money.”

“Is that … Is there a gun to my head?”

“Yes, we’re being mugged.”  Lena sighed heavily.  “And this used to be such a safe city … except for all of the assassination attempts.”

“Hey, I think you brought the assassins with you.”

Lena pushed Kara playfully, and the Super stumbled back with a smile.

“Well, that’s not very nice.  Don’t go victim blaming.”

“I just call them like I see them.  The assassin ratio has increased by over 300% since you moved here.”

“Hey!”  The mugger pulled back the hammer on his weapon.  “This is not a joke.  Don’t make me shoot you.”

Lens struggled not to smile.  “He’s being serious.  I think we’re in trouble.”

“Damn right you are!  Now, money, jewelry, phones, whatever you have, hand it over.”

“Well, drat.”  Lena patted along her abdomen and down her hips.  “I seem to have left my wallet in my other uniform.  What about you?”

Kara turned to the three thugs behind the first one.  One man had a baseball bat, another a crowbar, and a third was opening and closing a flip knife.  They looked varying levels of unpleasant.  Kara smiled.

“Wow, we’re even outnumbered.  Whatever will we do?”

“Well,” Lena considered, “we could give them a chance to surrender.  That seems only sporting.”

Kara nodded.  “You heard the lady, boys.  Put your weapons down, and we’ll call the police.  No one has to get hurt.”

“Oh, someone is getting hurt.”  The gun wielder nodded at the man with a knife.

With a wicked smile on his face, the man flipped his knife open.  “You should have just given us what we wanted.  This is your fault.”  He pulled back his arm slightly, suddenly jabbing forward and stabbing Kara.  There was a responding ‘clink’ noise, and the smile faded off of the man’s face as he looked at Kara’s unfazed expression.  Trying twice more, he stabbed again and again with the same result.  “It’s … her costume if some kind of metal.”

“Steel,” Kara said as she floated a few inches above the ground, “and it isn’t the costume.”

All of the men’s eyes widened, and they took a step back.  When Lena floated up next to Kara, they broke moral, bumping off of each other in a rush to escape.

“They’re running.”

“And splitting up.”  Kara smiled at Lena.  “I bet I can get my two before you get your two.”

“What do I get if I win?”

Kara just smiled and lifted a bit higher into the air.  “I’ll guess you’ll have to beat me to find out.”

Two flashes, one blue and red and the other green, shot off in different directions.  The chase was on, and no matter who won, the only losers would be the criminals of National City.  A Super and a Luthor fighting crime together, who would have expected that?


End file.
